Sandals Barbados

Mixed feelings writing this review. We came to this sandals resort in 2024, followed by sandals Antigua, also in 2024. I rated this as the best resort I had ever been to, so was excited to be going back in September. First the good, the grounds and gardens are still absolutely stunning. Most of the staff are great, helpful and friendly, lots of smiles, and always a hello. We ate at most of the restaurants, and loved spice for breakfast, great choice and lovely staff. Lunch ended up mainly at spice, jerk shak, which is still a favourite, and neptunes, which we love, and the chicken Caesar salad is delicious. My favourite meal was at Asian fusion, which was amazing. Butches chop and seafood had a great steak,now, the not so good. my favourite from last time, Bombay let me down a bit this time, when they forgot my appetiser, so my wife ate alone, while I watched, I eventually asked for my starter which then got 5 minutes later, to eat on my own, and then my main was brought out while I was halfway through my appetiser, meaning I was then rushing through my food, so was too full to eat half of my main course. The entertainment,,,,or lack of it,,, activities are advertised, but very rarely happen. Water aerobics, which my wife loves. Is advertised as e dry day, it only happened once, and that was because my wife kept moaning on the Gina app, to which she was told they’d had technical difficulties 😆😆 so it suddenly happened the next day,,,and then never again, die dying t shirts, advertised, my wife sat waiting for it to start, just for nobody to turn up. We had a quiz in 2 days in which everyone in the pool got involved in, showing there is an appetite for entertainment, so why isn’t it happening? Most of the time the entertainment team just weren’t around at all. Now,,,the rooms,,,oh dear…we were in the beach facing block, above the pool and spice. At first glance it was nice, it’s one of the recently refurbished rooms, but, the whole tap and pipe for the outside bath were loose, it was totally covered in limescale, showing it’s never been cleaned properly and leaks,,,the shower leaked from the wall fixtures, the sealant around the window in the shower was mouldy and falling apart, plus socket pulling out of the wall when you removed a plug, which is dangerous, and neither usb charging point worked. You’d accept a bit of this in a budget hotel, but don’t expect it at somewhere this expensive. Then the room service, towels were rarely replaced properly, we were actually down to 2 flannels, and had to ask for towels, and from them on only had 2 towels in the room, nothing else, now I know we could keep asking for towels, but should we have to? I’m on holiday to relax, not chase people around like I’m the manager. It was the sane with the toiletries. Drinks were topped up ok, but we didn’t use much in the room anyway. I really hate moaning about this place because I still love it, and the staff are amazing. But i feel things have slipped a lot since 2024. You can’t expect people to keep paying top prices for a tui level holiday, we use tui occasionally also, and if we want tui, we’ll pay tui prices. Sandals isn’t tui. The room problems I wouldn’t even expect fro tui. It seems to be that sandals are now charging top prices, and then hiring low quality workers to fit low quality furnishings in the rooms. Good Reputations are hard to come by, easy to lose, and even harder to get back again. There’s work to do here sandals…. I’m sure we will be back at sandals soon, and don’t let this put you off, it’s generally a stunning resort with great friendly people and good food.

I want to start by making something very clear: our stay at Sandals Barbados was NOT the problem. My husband and I loved Barbados and had a wonderful experience at the resort. My reason for leaving this review is specifically to share our experience with Epix Photo & Video Creations and the wedding videography services associated with our Sandals wedding. We were married at Sandals Barbados in April 2026, and unfortunately, what should have been one of the most meaningful keepsakes from our wedding has turned into months of frustration. One of the most concerning issues occurred when our private wedding video was sent to an email address that did not belong to either me or my husband and that we never authorized. The link was eventually deactivated and an apology was given, but our personal wedding footage should never have been sent to an unauthorized third party. We then experienced months of communication issues, including scheduling/time-zone confusion, delayed or missed promised calls, and repeated follow-ups on our part. My husband and I both work and rearranged our schedules to be available for some of these calls. On one occasion, I waited more than an hour for a promised call. Eventually, I requested that communication be handled through email so there would be a written record. I also had significant concerns with the quality and attention to detail in our wedding footage, including footage showing my shapewear, dress tags, and undercut, as well as how important moments such as our first dance were captured. I requested revisions, but I was ultimately told there was no additional footage available to correct some of these issues. Certain portions could only be removed rather than fixed. With a wedding, those moments cannot simply be recreated. I also want to clarify that accepting the final available version because there was no additional footage to make further corrections did not mean that I was satisfied with the quality of the video. After months of communication and escalation, I was eventually offered a $395 partial refund. On September 16, I received written confirmation that the refund would be processed back to my original form of payment. As of October 2, I still have not received it. I was also told that the high-resolution wedding video would be made available for me to download and permanently save. However, when I follow the download instructions provided, I do not receive the actual video file. What downloads redirects me back to the password-protected Vimeo page. This is especially concerning because I was told the link would only remain available for approximately 30 days. Nearly six months after our wedding, I have dealt with our private wedding video being sent to an unauthorized email address, problems with footage that can no longer be corrected, months of communication issues, a promised $395 refund that has not arrived, and I still do not have a properly downloadable permanent copy of our wedding video. Again, this review is not a reflection of our stay at Sandals Barbados. We genuinely loved Barbados and enjoyed the resort. My disappointment is specifically with our experience dealing with Epix and the handling of our wedding videography before and after delivery. I’m sharing this because I wish I had known this information before purchasing wedding videography services. If you are planning a Sandals wedding and considering Epix for your wedding video, I strongly recommend documenting all communication, reviewing your footage carefully, and making sure you have the actual video file permanently downloaded before any temporary link expires. As of October 2, 2026, the videography portion of our wedding experience remains unresolved.

Overall our two (2) couples had a good week but not a great week. First, the Good. Restaurants and food was great wherever you went. The rooms and the ocean views were excellent. The pools were great with great atmosphere. The nightly entertainment was very good. Beautiful grounds and neatness. Island night party and entertainment was excellent. Now for the Bad. The communications and service from the Front Desk and the Culinary restaurant reservation desks were terrible. They communicated that all restaurants that needed reservation had to be made at the culinary desk. When we did that they never got back to us with the reservation times as promised. When we called, No One could find our reservation request records. We had to engage a resort manager to get our reservations since all time slots were taken. They communicated Bingo at the infinity pool on certain days which interested us. They never had Bingo at any times. No reason why was given. The worst was my request to have white milk delivered to the room. Over the course of two (2) days I made 8-10 different calls to the Front Desk and/or Food Staff desk who all promised me that the milk would be delivered shortly. I finally got connected to a Resort manager on the second night who delivered the milk personally after having to wait two(2) days. The front desk, the housekeeping desk and the culinary desk never provided any levels of service or communications as was advertised at the time of our bookings. The coffee/Late machine in the pool lobby never worked right and/or had no milk. These continual communications frustrations and lack of resort service greatly hindered our Sandals Barbados resort enjoyment for the week. It could have been a great week, but it was not.

Good hotel and location. Wide choice of restaurants and bars since this hotel is linked with the Royal 3 different and good pool areas Very nice beach with direct access Some of the staff in restaurants and bars need to show more curtesy and politeness to guests - especially Spices, very poor greeting and service. The pool bars need to be staffed better and focus on actually seeing drinks Good overall choice of food but several locations need to ensure it’s Serbians better temperature Very good coffee/ tea bar Staff work very hard keeping the gardens in good order

Our experience at Sandals Barbados was a mixed bag. The resort itself is beautiful, with great amenities, clean grounds, lots of pools, a nice beach, and food that was, for the most part, very good. Unfortunately, the customer service was where the experience fell short. Many of the restaurant hosts, bartenders, and waitstaff seemed annoyed or unhappy when we asked for recommendations about food or drinks. It often felt like we were bothering them simply by asking questions. There seemed to be a lack of attention to the small details that can make a vacation experience special. There were, however, several employees who absolutely stood out and deserve recognition. D’Angelo in the Club Lounge, Dwayne the photographer, Drico from the small sailboat, and Elisa at SkyBar were fantastic. These employees were friendly, helpful, and made us feel welcomed. In my opinion, they should be recognized, promoted, and given raises—and they could absolutely help train other staff on what excellent customer service should look like. The staff at the morning coffee and crepe spot were also lovely, and the grounds crew were consistently polite. Unfortunately, we had several service issues that were difficult to overlook. At the French restaurant, when we asked our waitress whether she would recommend the fish or steak, she told us they were both the same rather than offering an actual recommendation. Our housekeeper removed our body wash without replacing it, and we had to ask for more body wash, two additional towels, and washcloths. The swim-up bar was another frustrating experience. One bartender was arguing with the other while we were being served. When I ordered a drink for my wife, the bartender refused to make it, forgot to give me my beer, and also got another couple’s drink order wrong. It was the lack of attention to detail that was disappointing. We also met another couple during our stay who felt similarly about the service. One other recommendation for management: please reconsider the corny goodbye song on the bus. 😂 It was definitely not our favorite way to end the trip! Overall, the beach, pools, grounds, and food were great, and there are employees who clearly understand what good hospitality looks like. Unfortunately, the inconsistent customer service had a major impact on our overall experience. After this stay, I’m not sure we would choose to stay at a Sandals resort again. Hopefully management takes this feedback seriously, because the resort has a lot going for it, and with more consistent customer service, the experience could be significantly better.